Sink mounting



Jan. 31, 1961 I MlLLs 2,969,549

SINK MOUNTING Filed June 10, 1954 INVENTOR.

50x55 TQM/L L United States Patent SINK MOUNTING Ernest R. Mills, 1234Hiatt St., Indianapolis, Ind.

Filed June 10, 1954, Ser. No. 435,750

1 Claim, (Cl- 4- 187) Thisinvention' relates to means for mounting asink ingits associated drainboard. It'ha sheretoforebeen proposed toemploy for this purpose a sink-encircling of metal formed of T-shapedcross-section to provide afhorizontal flange'which overlies the gapbetween the sink and the edges of the sink-receiving opening in thedrainboard while the vertical web of the rim extends downwardly betweenthe drainboard-opening and the edge of the sink-flange for cooperationwith a clamping means which, when tightened, draws one side of therimfiange'downwardly into firm contact with the drainboard and forcesthe sink-flange upwardly into firm contact with the other side of therim-flange. One prior sinkencircling rim has been formed of strip stockfolded on longitudinal lines to provide the horizontal flange, thevertical web, and a lip at the 'bottom edge of the web, such lip beingengaged by the clamping means. In such an arrangement, it is necessarythat the web, which is relatively flexible, lie against the side of thedrainboard opening in order to prevent it from being deflectedhorizontally by the eifort exerted on it by the clamping means. With theweb against the side of the drainboard opening, the edge of such openingmay engage the flange close to the web; and when the clamping elfort isapplied, the upward reaction of such edge may tend to curl the flangeupwardly and produce an undesirable gap between its edge and the uppersurface of the drainboard. Further, since the web must lie against theside of the drainb oard opening, only one alf the total width of theflange is available to accommodate for diflerences between thedimensions of the opening and the over-all dimensions of thesink-flange.

My invention embodies the general arrangement just described and has forits object to overcome the disadvantages just noted. Another object ofthe invention is to produce a sink-mounting means which can readily beaccommodated to the mounting of sinks having flanges of differentthicknesses.

In carrying out the invention in its preferred form, strip stock isfolded into a T-shaped cross-section and its web is provided atintervals with downwardly opening sockets for the reception of clam-pscrews. Each clamp screw has associated with it an L-shaped clampingmember at least one leg of which is provided with an opening for thereception of the clamp screw, the arrangement being such that the leg ofthe clamping member through which the screw passes extends beneath thedrainboard while the end of the other leg bears upwardly against theout-turned peripheral flange on the sink. The screwreceiving sockets inthe rim-web are produced by providing the web at intervals with sets ofparallel slits the material between which is offset alternately inopposite directions to define a space within which the clamp screw isscrew-threadedly received. The oflset material serves the furtherpurpose of holding the web proper away from the side of the drainboardopening and preventing the edge of such opening from engaging the rim atthe junc- 2. tion of the web and flange. Desirably, the legs of eachclamping member are made of unequal length, and each leg is providedwith an opening for the passage of the clamp screw, thus adapting'thedevice for use with sinkfianges of different thicknesses.

The accompanying drawing illustrates the invention:

Fig. 1 is aperspective view of a sink and associated drainboard;

Fig. 2 is a fragmental vertical section through the joint between thesink and drainboard;

Fig. 3 is a section on line 33 of Fig. 4, similar; to Fig. 2 but on anenlarged scale;

Fig. 4 is a section on the line 4-4 of Fig. 3; and;

Fig. 5 is a view similar to Fig. 2 illustrating the device as used inthe mounting of a sink having a relatively thin peripheral flange.

"in" the arrangement shown in' the drawing, a generally rectangular sink10' ismounted in an opening'in a drainboard 11. In accordance withcommon practice, thesink is shown as having an out-turned peripheral"flange 12 theover-alldimensions of which are somewhat smaller than theover-all dimensions of the sink-receiving opening in the drainboard.Surrounding the sink is a metal rim designated in its entirety bythereference numeral 13. Such rim is T-'shaped in cross-section to providea flange 14 opposite sides of which respectively overlap the uppersurface ofthe drainboard' 1'1 and the upper surface of thesink-flange-IZ, and also to provide a central web'15'which extendsdownwardly between the edge of the sink-flange 12 and the edge of thesink-receiving opening in the drainboard 11.

The sink-rim 13 is formed of sheet-metal folded along. longitudinallines, as indicated, to provide the flange 14 and web 15. At intervalsalong the web 15, groups of parallel slits are provided, and the stockbetween such slits is oifset alternately in opposite directions to formgenerally semi-circular tongues 16 which define, in effect, a downwardlyopening recess for the reception of a pointed screw 17 and which alsoserve to insure the presence of a gap 16' between the web proper and theside of the drainboard opening. The screw 17 is desirably of thesheet-metal type having a relatively sharp-edged thread, and theoffsetting of the tongues 16 is limited to such an extent that thethreads of the screw 17 have to be forced into the space between them.

Associated with each clamp screw 17 is a clamp member 29 having ahorizontal leg 21 and a vertical leg 22. In the preferred form of theinvention, each of these legs has an opening 23 adapted to receive thescrew 17,

and the two legs are of different lengths. For use with sinks havingrelatively thick flanges 12, the screw 17 is passed through the opening23 in the longer leg 21 of the clamping member, and is then received inthe space between the oppositely offset tongues 16. As the screw isrotated, it progresses upwardly in the space between the tongues 16until its head 17' engages the leg 21 of the clamping member and forcesit upwardly against the lower surface of the drainboard 11. As the screwis tightened, the sink-rim 13 is drawn downwardly to force one side ofthe flange 14 against the upper surface of the drainboard and to clampthe sink-flange 12 between the other side of the flange 14 and the upperend of the leg 22 of the clam-ping member.

When the device is to be used in the mounting of a sink having a thinperipheral flange, such as is indicated at 12 in Fig. 5, the clampingmembers are disposed with their shorter legs 20 horizontal and theirlonger legs vertical, the screw passing through the opening 23 in thehorizontal leg, as before. Minor variations in the thickness of the sinkflange or in the thickness of the drainboard can be accommodated bytilting of the clamping members, as it is not essential that their legsbe respectively absolutely horizontal and vertical. Clamping membershaving legs of different lengths also accommodate my device todrainboards of different thicknesses. Clamping members having legs ofdifferent lengths may of course be used irrespective of the particulartype of screw or other tension element which acts between each clampmember and the rim-web.

As shown in the drawing, it is preferred that the double-thicknessportion of the flange 14 overlap the drainboard 11, as this arrangementprovides a better seal between the flange and the parts it engages.Further, since it is the outer or drainboard-engaging half of the flangewhich carries the weight of the sink, the doublethickness half is betterable to sustain that load without curling upwardly to open a gap betweenthe flange-edge and the drainboard.

I claim as my invention:

In a sink installation wherein a sink having a substantiallyhorizontally disposed rim is seated within an opening in a counter top,means securing said sink to said counter top comprising a trim stripformed of sheet metal which is configurated to provide a cap portion anda flange depending from said cap portion, said trim strip disposed toencircle the sink with the cap portion thereof overlying adjacent edgesof the sink rim and the counter top and with the flange depending intothe space between the sink rim and the counter top, a plurality ofinternal thread formations disposed at spaced points on said flange,each thread formation opening downwardly and consisting of a pluralityof narrow arcuate bands which protrude alternately from opposite sidesof said flange in horizontal planes spaced vertically with respect toone another to receive a coarse pitch, pointed screw, said internalthread formation being slightly undersized with respect to said screw,whereby the screw must expand the thread formation upon being threadedthereinto, means spanning the space between the undersides of thecounter top and the sink rim at each thread formation, and a screw ofthe type set forth traversing the latter named means and being engagedinto said internal thread formation.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS483,804 Glauber Oct. 4, 1892 1,453,082 Rosenberg Apr. 24, 1923 1,727,159Coulter Sept. 3, 1929 1,878,055 Wittlifi Sept. 20, 1932 2,038,638 BreyApr. 28, 1936 2,130,399 Rypinski Sept. 20, 1938 2,158,467 Madsen May 16,1939 2,502,553 Ball Apr. 4, 1950 2,503,910 Kerby Apr. 11, 1950 2,584,581Harris Feb. 5, 1952 2,679,051 Walsh May 25, 1954 2,818,764 Switzer Jan.7, 1958 2,840,829 Hammer July 1, 1958 FOREIGN PATENTS 652,893 GreatBritain May 2, 1951

